Building wall or partition.



E. KETCHUML BUILDING WALL 0B PARTITION.

[Apphcatnon filed Oct 4 1899 NORRIS PETERS co mar Partitions, of which the following is a speci UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.-

EDMUNI) KE TCI-IUM, OF MONTCLAIR, NI'HV JERSEY.

. BUILDING WALL. 'oR PARTITION.

' SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent 0. 644,138, dated February 27, 1900.

Application filed October 4, 1899 Serial No. 732,508. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, EDMUND KETCHUM, a citizen of the United States, residing in Upper Montclair,in the county of Essex and State of New Jersey, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Building Walls. or

fication.

This invention relates to building walls or partitions; and it has for one object the provision of an improved structure of this class in which the several elements thereof may be assembled to form a solid wall without the use of the usual binder, such as mortar, for

maintaining building blocks or bricks in their proper assembled positions.

A second object of the invention is to fur- :n-ishsan-improved building block or brick for" use asan clement of a wall constructed in this manner, and the several blocks will preferably be interchangeable with one another and capable of interlocking with one another at their edges. In connection withv these blocks I also make use of an improved look-- ing member or tie-piece, by means of which adjacent blocks may be clamped or tied to- ;gether at their adjacent edges by merely inserting the blocks in position in the tie-piece at the edges or corners of the blocks.

My invention isv in the nature of an im- 'provement upon that shown, described, and

claimed in my Patent. No. 620,594, dated March 7, 1899, to which reference may be made.

A feature of my present invention which.

distinguishes it from that set forth in my prior patentis abuilding-wall formed without the use of mortar or a similar binder to se cure the several elements thereof, and th'e blocks constituting said wall are clamped to gether bytie members engaging their side faces, which members will resist outwardor latenal pressure in substantially the same manner that the tie-rodsfor connecting the oppositewalls of abuilding resist the same influence.

and are so constructed thatthe-tie members,

1 which will usually be inthe form of metallic edges or corners of the blocks and intersects,

Moreover, in the present case all of the blocks are preferably interchangeable ing the side faces thereof. By employingbuilding-blocks andtie members constructed in this manner, having all of the blocks interchangeable with onefanother' and the tiepieces of the same type, it will be seen that a wall may be formed'by assembling only two ing part of ,this application, Figure 1 is aperspective view of a portion of a wall or partition constructed in accordance with my pres? ent invention. Fig. 2 is an enlarged per-1 "spectiveviewof one oi "the buiiding elect-r577 or bricks used in the formation of such wall,"

Figs. 3 and 4 are opposite side elevations of one corner of such block. Fig. 5 is a transverse section of a portion of the Wall, illustrating' the manner in which the tie member clamps the blocks together. spective view of the tie member, which I prefer to employ, and Fig. 7 is a perspective view of a detail illustrating a means for. preventing sidewise movementof the wall.

Similar characters of reference designate Fig. 6 is a perlike parts in all the figures of the drawings.

In my patent hereinbefore referred tof'I have illustrated one'type of building :wall or.

partition in which the blocks or bricks are 1 interchangeable with one 'another'and areunited at,their edges by suitable locking:

means; butin' theconstructionshown in such patent the blocks in different courses are'not positively clampedtogether-by tie-pieces that will positively prevent. sidewise movement .ofa block of one course relativeto adjacent blocks of another course, nor does said pan out illustrate a construction in which all of the blocks are united by joints regardless of how they may be secured in place by the in-- termediate holdingmembers. In the present case, however, the blocks. and tie-pieces are so constructed that when assembled each block, .preferably at all sides thereof, will overlap or fit into the edgeso'f other blocks adjacent thereto, and the overlapping edges will be clamped together by means of the tiepieces in such a way that any strain which tends to cause a sidewise movement of any block relative to another will be resisted and such movement prevented.

For the purpose of securing the results just mentioned I prefer to make use of a building-block substantially of the type shown I M2, and when the block is, square, as is the case herein, all ofi 'thesetongues will be substantially similar inconstruction. Said tongues may be formed in any desired m'anner, but usually by grooving or rabbeting the edges of the block,,as at 3, in such a way 'as to form a lap-joint or rabbet-joint.

Onecf the principal features of the improved building-block employed in'the 'formation of this wall orpartition is the m anger in which it is constructed to receive and be. held; by the'tiemembers' that clamp the blocks together-5 These tie members are in tended to be passed through openings formed by recessesin the edges of the blocks A, these recesses intersecting both of the side walls of each respective block'in' order to form an opening entirely throughthe wall when the parts are assembled. These recesses may be located at any suitable point in theedge of the block, but I prefer that they be cut in.

the corners thereof, as indicated herein at 4. ,All of these recesses may be of the same size and contour and in the present case arerectangular, sothat complementary recesses will form square openings extending through the wall." In addition to having these recesses in the edges thereof I deem; it desirable to so 'form'the blocks A that when said blocks and the tie members are assembled to form a wall the end .faces of the tie-pieces will be flush i? with theifacesof the block's. For this reason Ilia've'shown herein a block'in which countersinks are provided, each of a depth sufficient to receive the end plate of the tie member that I prefer to use. Said countersink should,

a, of course, be so located as to be substantially concentric with the openings through the wall '1: formed'by the recesses 4, and, moreover, the 5.5

peripheral walls of the countersinks,.mayadvantageously be circular in orderfto permit the use of a tie-piece having a circular head, and thus prevent chipping of the blocks durmg the assembling of the wall or after it has been completed. As the area of one side face jof the block is less than that of the other,it will of cours egbe evidentthat if the heads of the 'f t epieces are to be of the same size, as is preferableythej cornerfof that face of the block -whichhasthe greater 'area will be cut away {more than the other toform the countersink, although the peripheries of both countersinks will of course be described by arcs of the same circle. The major countersink is illustrated herein at 5 and the minor countersink by 5', there being four of each for each block.

The means that I prefer to employ for the purpose of clamping the blocks together is illustrated herein most clearly in Fig. 6, although it should be understood that any suitable means for holding the blocks of different courses in such a manner that they-cannot move relatively to each other may beemployed.. Here, 'however, the tie member 1s preferably a spool formed either from sheet metal or cast, metal, as may be desired, and 1 having substantially flat ends or plates 7, connected by a stem or body portion 8. The heads 7 will of course be substantially of the same. size and contour as the countersunk openingsatthe corners of theassembled blocks. The distance between theheads'of the spool will of course be such as to receive between'them two building-blocks laid side by side, and the spools should fit snugly over the corners of these blocks.

When the parts areassembled, thebloeks will be placed edge to edge in such a manner v that adjacent blocks v'v-ill face in oppositedirections and overlap. eachother toform rah-- bet-joints, and the tiemembers will be.in.- 4

serted in positionat the corners of individual blocks or pairs of blocks and the other blocks slid into place, substantially as illustrated in Fig. 1. When four blocks are assembled in this way, with a tie member passed through the opening at the intersecting corners, said tie member will positively engage theoppo sitefaces of these four blocks and will tend to maintain'a'rabbet-jo'int at this point.

. For the purpose of preventing swaying of the wall and obtaining greater stability I may make use of holding members for the lower edge of the wallsubstantially similar to the tie-spool C, except that in contoureach may be substantially a half-spool cut longitudinally. These tie.'1nembers constitute steps or feet and not only look the lower edges of the wall positively, but also clampthe-edges .of adjacent blocks together in the same way as the tie-spools 'C'. These auxiliaryfasten-- ing devices are designated by O and will usually be fastened to the door or other suitablesupportin some well-known manner. Inconnection therewith I may also make use of holding members, such as the U-shaped nietallie piece D, these being employed in-"the.

IIO

present case to give stability to the vertical ity of blocks interlocked between their adja cent sides and having at the corners thereof tained in the openings formed by said recesses and engaging and overlapping the side faces of adjacent blocks.

A wall or partitioncomprising a plurality of blocks held together by rabbet-joints and having in their edges complementary recesses intersecting the sides of the blocks,

and tie members passed through the openings formed by said recesses and engaging and overlapping the side faces of adjacent blocks and interlocked'therewith.

4. A building block having longitudinal tenons on two of its edges and transverse tenons extending the width of the block at the ends thereof, and also having in its edges recesses intersecting the sides of the block.

5. A building-block having longitudinallyextending tenons on two of its edges and transverse tenons'on its ends, said block having recesses at its corners, andalso having countersinks substantially concentric with said recesses.

I 6. A building-block having in its opposite corners recesses intersecting the sides of the block, and also having in the corresponding corners of its side faces conntersinks sub-.

stantially concentric with said respective recesses and also intersecting the sides of the block.

7. A building-block having'in one of its edges a recess intersecting the sides of the blocks, and also having in its opposite side faces countersinks substantially concentric with said respective recesses and also int-ersecting the sides of the block;

EDMUND KE'FCHUM.

Witnesses:

Fnnn. J. Donn, 0. IT. Wane. 

